Our Adventures in Home Renovation: 2013

So I thought I would update with what the house looked like when we bought it, what it looks like today and what we still plan to do. So here goes. Starting with the outside.

Exterior:

Purchase day:

Today:

What we have done:

-Removed TONS of overgrown bushes and weeds.

-Removed a small pond from the front yard as well as fill the hole and plant grass.

-Painted the siding charcoal gray (color matched to our future pole barn siding) and began trimming in white.

Future Plans:
-Finish trimming out the house in white.
-New windows come on Friday!!!
-Cement walk way to the front porch.
-flower bed off the front porch.
-Asphalt the driveway.
-Paint the front door and maybe the porch floor.

Foyer before: Today:

What we have done:
-Replaced the 2 layers of flooring with laminate that runs from the front door through the kitchen, living room and dining room.
-Replaced the front door.
-Painted the walls and trim.
-Replaced the light fixture.

To Do:
-Finish painting and reinstall trim around the door.
-Install a garage door opener so we can come in through the garage and move our shoe rack to the mud room.
-Add bifold doors to the closet.
-Replace the rickety old screen door.

Mud Room: Today:

Done:
-Replace flooring with ceramic tile.
-Fix and paint the walls.
-Move the plumbing for the new washer and drier (added a gas line).
-Install cabinets and a drying rod.

To Do:
-Install bead board wall for the lazy susan.
-Finish off the bench by painting the base white and adding a cushion.
-Replace florescent light fixture.
-Add a light fixture in the basement stairwell and paint the stairs to the basement.

Kitchen Before: Kitchen Today:

What we've done:

-Replace the flooring.

-Repair and paint the cabinets as well as add hardware.

-Added breakfast bar pendants.

-Tiled the back splash.

-Added cabinets in the weird extra nook on the left.

-Replace the worn out laminate counters with Quartz.

-Repair and paint the walls.

To do still:

-Paint the remaining doors and install them.

-Add can lights.

-Replace the dishwasher w a stainless one to match.

Dining room:

Done:

-Replaced floor.

-Painted window trim.

-Replaced light fixture.

To do:

-Replace sliding door maybe.

-Add a dimmer switch for the light fixture.

Fireplace: Today:

Done:

-Replaced the fireplace insert.

-Changed out the stone and made the fireplace even with the wall.

-Saved the mantle and refinished it.

-Added a hearth.

To Do:

- Bask in the warmth of the fireplace!

Guest Bath- purchase day: Today:

Done:

-Refinished the vanity with a Rusteolum cabinet revitalizing kit, after we didn't like that we painted it Gargoyle Gray by Dutch Boy and added new hardware and a vanity top we found on an unadvertised sale at Menards!

-Replaced the floor with porcelain tile.

-Painted & re-painted 3 times to get the right color (still not totally sold)....

-Refinished the linen closet behind the door to white with new hardware.

-Added towel bars and shelves.

-Refinished the tub

-Replaced the light fixture and added a mirror.

Future wishes:

-Replace the tile tub surround since it is chipped.

-Replace the missing trim boards.

-Install the mosaic backsplash.

-Add more electrical outlets.

-Replace the door with a solid wood door.

Craft Room: As it looks today!

I was apparently so excited I never took a before photo of the nasty carpet in the craft room.

Done:

- New flooring.

-My Dad built me a sweet craft center! The 2 end cabinets have appliance lifts to hold my sewing machines. Its pretty sweet, but more on that later!
-Closet is now shelves for storing various crafts. Window trim has been painted and curtains hung!

To do:
-Shelves will be hung between the 2 upper cabinets as well as a TV mounted.
-Bi-fold doors for the closet.
-Replace the door with a solid wood door.

Guest bedroom: Today:

Apparently I forgot to take a before photo of this room as well! It also had nasty carpet!

Done:

-New Carpet and paint.

-New Ceiling fan light fixture (there was none previously).

-Painted the window trim.

-Added a closet organizer.

To Do:

-Install a bi-fold door on the closet.

-Replace the door with a solid wood door.

Master Bedroom: Today:

I neglected to take any before photos on the bedrooms I guess. This is the earliest I have of the master which was after we removed the carpet and the subfloor and repaired the walls.

Done:

-New Carpet.

-Repaired and painted the walls and trim.

-Added a Ceiling fan light fixture.

-Added a chandelier I refinished from a garage sale and a closet organizer.

To Do:

-I want to move our bed to the other wall.

-The window you can see in the today picture will eventually be a door out to the patio where we will hopefully (fingers crossed) someday have a hot tub!

-Replace the door with a solid wood door.

Master Bath (Vanity): Today:

Master Shower: Today:

Master bath is a winter project so we haven't done much!

Done:
-Removed vanity.
-Cleaned Shower.

To Do:

-Gut and start over!

We have a 72" granite double sink black vanity from cabinets to go ($400 grand opening special!!!), a new toilet, tile, shower and faucet fixtures. Only thing left to decide what to do is with the shower. We are thinking a neo-angle all glass shower with white subway tile walls. We will see where this winter brings us with the master!

So thats my virtual to do list!

The fireplace was ugly, really ugly when we bought the house. After the carpet the next thing we did was smash up the fireplace. We saved the mantle so we could reuse it. We decided to go with a product called air stone from Lowes. It's a relatively inexpensive product but wasn't necessarily the best quality to work with. Tom did an excellent job getting it up on the wall and having a nice color variety. It took a while but the end result was worth it. I cleaned, deglossed, primed and painted the old mantle so Tom could hang it back up! This is all that in pictures:

Original ugly fire place stone: